Dark Elves
It is well known that certain races of Elf hold within themselves feelings of superiority over the other races. However, they never act upon this; that lesson has already been learned. History Centuries ago, a single man of the Dark Elves wrote a text about who he considered to be the perfect woman—Maelstrom. She was a passionate and powerful leader, his wish for the future of his race, and from his devotion, Maelstrom took form. Enraptured, he spoke of her to his friends, friends of friends, family, anyone who would listen. Soon, a religion formed with Maelstrom in the center. As her followers grew, so did she in power, to the point where her two sisters were born: Muse and Vague. Maelstrom felt a pride for this religion, and so asked her followers to call themselves Drow, since as her followers, they were superior to all others. But Maelstrom quickly began to feel jealous of the power of her sisters, and angry at all those who did not submit to her whim. From these feelings came a strong blood lust, which spearheaded the war to come. The Drow empathized with the anger of their goddess and the religion itself became disdainful. They spread her dreams of righteous conquest, as she would always lead them to victory. Under her command, as well as the command of her sisters, they gave the rest of Orelisle a chance to believe as well. When this ultimatum was rejected, no one was prepared for what followed. The Draegloths, about whom no account of the war can agree on a description of, decimated armies alone. Slowly Driders entered the battle as well, suffering creatures; those unfortunate enough to be taken as prisoner of war were given a chance to prove their faith, through the replacement of their lower half by the body of a spider and the reeducation of their mind.. Unfortunately for the Drow, these horrors that they unleashed to take the advantage united many of other nations, races and religions against them. Even Maelstom's sisters strayed from the path, asking for their followers to refer to themselves as “Dark Elves” yet again. The splinters of the race as a whole was so drastic that, to this day, Drow is considered to be a racial slur in most of the Underdark. As their armies fractured, the forces of their enemies strengthened against the Drow and Dark Elves alike. They were forced to retreat as a race, and, when all seemed to be lost, were taken in by their ancestral ally—the Dwarves. From their place of refuges in the Dwarven cities, these newly found exiles carved out their homes. It's from this that the three oldest cities, Phridgia, Aoelia and Locria were born. This movement to the Underdark and simultaneous rift within the Dark Elves is known today as the Separation. Over the course of time these elves came to be what we know as Dark Elves today. Each city developed its own religious and political councils, each based around worship of one of the three main goddesses. Due to the fact that the Dark Elves have this history of war, they reach maturity in an unusual way. For the first twenty years of their lives, Dark Elves age approximately as humans do; this allows for the race to not be utterly decimated in long wars against shorter-lived races. In their third decade of life the aging process slows immeasurably, resulting in the same extended lifespan as the other Elven races. It is thought that the incredibly short childhood in comparison to the incredibly long impetuous young adult stage in a Dark Elf's formative years contributes greatly to the sheer conviction they have in their way of life and faith. Some centuries after the founding of the three cities, a rift was torn among the religious elite in Phridgia. Some of the sisters began calling themselves the Delabima—literally “of the Abyss”—and challenged that the Sisterhood as a whole had forgotten the true ways taught by Maelstrom, as evident as their changing her name to Lolth. They demanded a change of leadership, and had much of the city behind them. What they did not expect, however, was the maneuvering of Scillette – the high priestess of the Sisterhood. Shortly after the Delabima rose in strength, she came forward with a declaration, which contradicted all of the changes that she had initiated during her years as the high priestess, and so it did not go over well among any group in the city. However, it had the intended effect. Bemused, yet vindicated, the Delabima agreed to support any and all changes that Scillette would suggest in the name of going back to the roots of their religion. And so, in her next addresses to the people, Scillette did exactly as she wished. Scillette declared that the Delabima were to remain in Phidria, upholding the current services and rites to Lolth and her count. The remainder of the Sisterhood would leave with her to build a new temple, separate from the secular government, in order to properly devote their attentions to the goddesses. Certain sisters from Aoelian and Locria were invited to join them in worshiping the three main goddesses together. The built the religious center of Parthetique, underneath the wild land of Oz. Other than the Dark Elf seat of power, Parhetique is considered to be the most important site of the Dark Elf civilization. The seat of power is a general term for the center of the Dark Elf government. Unlike most officials, which stay in the city of Tamber, the highest officials of the civilization hide underneath the waters of Port Calla. These officials are colloquially called the Council. This location itself is not known outside of Port Calla's leader and the Council. Present Day The Dark Elves have a heavily religious, musical and matriarchal society that populates the Underdark regions, which spread beneath the entire continent and, in certain places, underneath the ocean and islands. Dark Elves control land in a certain radius to a city, clan home or outpost. They are identifiable by their dark skin, and white hair; they are also known to love spiders, and often wear dark colors as well as masks. There are a number of major cities, clan homes, outposts, and outcast clans, all within the boundaries of the Underdark. Religious Beliefs The Dark Elves believe in a court of deities, the main three of which are sisters. Each of these three Goddesses are worshiped within three different houses of the religion, named after them; there are minor deities that are also worshiped in these houses. These Goddesses are known as Muse, the Goddess of creativity and the mind; Vague, the Goddess of focus and sorcery; Maelstrom, also known as Lolth, the Goddess of emotion and the elements. In order to show devotion to their goddesses, the followers of this religion wear masks that hold the symbol of their main Goddess, and wear a bit of the color that represents their house. These three Goddesses were created by a single man, whose name has long been lost. He worshiped them and they helped him in his life, and so he spread the word of their glory. However, as they became more powerful, he began to fear them. This fear was soon justified, as the three Goddesses led the Dark Elves to war. There are rumors that he is still alive to this day, living in between two closed doors at a hidden temple. Over time, it is said that he has began to stop believing in the main three goddesses, which is why they are unable to touch him. However, the masked lady has a physical form, as she ascended from being a human being, and therefore he still hides. It is hard to define the Goddesses themselves, as they change over time. They are shadows, created by not only the world's light by also the light of ideas. Therefore, as their followers change, so too do the Goddesses. This can be seen by the fact that the original religion was based around Nature. However, when the Dark Elves were driven into the Underdark, this emphasis on nature largely disappeared. Minor Goddesses too have emerged and disappeared over time, as they only exist as long as they have believers. This is why Dark Elf deities are fairly active in their roles. What does not change often, however, are the traditions surrounding the religion itself. For instance, because of the importance of light, Dark Elves have a habit of covering their skin in its entirety. The symbols and colors associated with certain goddesses have also not varied throughout the years. Followers of Muse frequently wear the color yellow and use the symbol of the alto clef. Worshipers of Vague adorn the color blue as well as the symbol of the bass clef. Disciples of Lolth/Maelstrom cloth themselves in the color red and bear the symbol of treble clef. These symbols and colors can be combined, if one finds herself identifying with more than one house. Only one Goddess does not need to pander to her followers, and that would be the Masked Lady. In life, her name was Cadence, and is is often worship as such by the priestesses. Others believed in her to such a great extent that, upon her death, she was revived by the belief of others into the form of a Goddess. Now known as the Masked Lady, she is the Goddess of life/death, beginnings, ends, free-will and doors. She is only visible when manifested in others going through a beginning or an end, and therefore is only worshiped at dawn and dusk. This does make her the only Goddess who can appear to non-believers, and due to this the religion around her has evolved in order to accept converts from all races, genders and previous religions. Despite that all the Goddesses use masks, she identifies with them in particular because masks cover up all other skin tones. It is from this same logic that the Masked Lady is not represented by any color; she does have a symbol, which is the ghost note. Naming Conventions Most, not all, names are similar to out-of-game French or Italian names, or are derived from words of these two languages. If it is the latter, they may fit into the following rules: Male Most males have longer names, and will end in x, such as, “loix,” (pronounced 'lo-ah'), or “aux” (pronounced 'oh'). Otherwise, they end in a silent t. Female Female names tend to end in “ne,” “nette,” “elle,” or on extended vowels like, “ie.” Their names tend to be shorter than most male names. Locations Unlike the names of people, locations are mostly named after various musical terms. Category:Races Category:Elves